


The Piltovan Performance

by BattlePantalones



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2020-08-20 20:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20233651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BattlePantalones/pseuds/BattlePantalones
Summary: Someone is murdering Piltovan citizens...Caitlyn, Vi, and a new recruit are trying to figure out who it is before it escalates.More familiar characters in later chapters.





	1. One / Early Morning Pastries

One

You grin

No one can see under the mask, of course

But you grin anyways

With the eel skin bodysuit and the half cloak you cut a dashing figure

You wonder what they think when they see you

Footsteps

Running down the alley

This is your opening act

The stage is set

He turns the corner

Sees you

Stumbles backwards

How lovely he will look when you finish

The knife will perfect the art

The gun is beauty

The performance begins

One

\----

Vi yawns as she pushes through the door to the warden headquarters. Caitlyn glances over at her quickly before returning her attention to the mound of papers covering her desk. Grabbing a pastry from the table by the door (“Enjoy!” reads the note the commissioner's wife had stuck to the tray) Vi slouched over to her desk and dropped into a chair, plunking her feet on the table. “I am so tiiiiired. Did you have to send me an urgent summons at five in the fucking morning?” Caitlyn doesn’t look up. “Technically, it was 5:09, and yes, I did. I doubt you’ll feel quite as tired as you are now when you hear what it has to say.” Over the pastry she’s almost finished with, Vi glares at Caitlyn. “I don fhink tho…” She swallows. “I mean I don’t think that I’ll be any less fucking tired. Just give me whatever you had to summon me here and I’ll go back to bed.” she grouches. 

Finally meeting her partner’s eyes, Caitlyn steeples her fingers. “This is a two parter. There was a murder last night- one of Clan Medara’s message runners was found dead in a side alleyway in the Entresol level.” “So?” interjects Vi. “Probably some chem punk stuck him for some extra coin. Nothing special…” “Yes, I do agree with you, however, Clan Medara is putting some significant pressure on the wardens to investigate. After you're done there, there was a reported sighting of Jinx riding a rocket into a building in sector four.” Vi straightens up, pastry crumbs falling off of her chin as her previous weariness is forgotten. “The mercantile district? That brat.” She springs up and grabs her hextech gauntlets and prepares to run out the door. 

“Vi? Be careful and don’t knock down any more buildings. If you see Jinx radio for backup and do NOT engage. Is that clear?” “Yeah, yeah, play nice, canvas the area, whatever.” As she snags another pastry on her way out the door Caitlyn calls after her. “Make sure to check out the murder first!” “Nngh….‘M on ‘t. Mhhmphh fhese hastry good.” Caitlyn rolls her eyes and gets back to her paperwork as Vi’s pink hair disappears around the corner.


	2. The Crime Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi investigates the crime scene...with a little help from someone new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I hope you are all enjoying the fic so far. There's a new character in town now...

Vi arrived at the crime scene a few minutes later, having taken a shortcut through Dagger Dive, known for its frequency to be populated by Zaunite muggers. Fortunately, (or unfortunately for Vi, who was looking for a good brawl) none were in the cramped alleyway today. Ducking under the Warden Ropeline, she approached the corpse and a short, slight figure dressed in warden blue bending over the body. 

“Hey, who the hell are you?” Vi called out as she strode towards the victim. The figure snapped to attention- closely shorn hair, standard warden uniform, and a curious hextech blade at her side. “Junior warden Packe, reporting in, ma’am.” A slight tremor underlined these words. Vi snorted. “Since when were you assigned to this case? I don’t need a partner- particularly one fresh out of the training program. I’ve already got the sheriff.” The girl, clearly crestfallen but defiant, replied “Well that’s strange, considering as I was told very clearly by the sheriff to accompany a certain Vi on the Clan Medara case. Seeing as you’re here, and this was a runner for Clan Medara, I think I’m in the right place.” Vi could see why Caitlyn picked this recruit…. They were very similar…. Vi sighed. “Fine, you’re with me on this case, but as soon as I leave here you’re going back to the warden’s office.” Packe stubbornly raised her chin. “My orders were to make the rounds with you today, wherever that might take you.” Vi was getting a headache- It was too early in the morning for this kind of thing, dammit! She rubbed her eyes with one massive gauntlet. “Whatever, fine. You’re gone tomorrow though!” she called over her shoulder, walking to the body. 

“What the….” Packe looked over Vi's shoulder. “Killed by a gunshot to the head. Clearly, our sadistic killer decided to carve a rose around the gunshot, and then there was an actual rose found on top of the body. The bullet went through the head and impacted the wall, although the killer knew enough to pick it up’’ ''I can see.” Vi replied tersely. “Any witnesses see anything strange?” “No, there was nobody on the street and the homeowners on either side were asleep. Estimated time of death puts this at around 1:30” Lovely…. Vi thought. “We have a psychopath on the loose with no actual clues. I’m chalking it up to an insane chempunk. Case closed.” She stalked off, with Packe following her like a hound dog. “We’re just calling it? This was clearly planned out in advan-” Vi cut her off “Unless we can find a clue leading us to some whereabout of the killer, we don’t have anything to go off of. And it’s not uncommon to have a murder on the entresol level-less than savory personages come up here all the time.” Packe trailed after Vi, subdued. She would have thought that her first case would be more...interesting than just a simple murder with no clues. “Where are we going to now?” A hint of a smile brightened Vi’s face.

“The mercantile district.”


	3. The Mercantile District

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi and Packe investigate Jinx...although some things aren't what they seem....
> 
> Pay attention to the details :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyo! I took a short break but am back to uploading.
> 
> For all my Six of Crows peeps there are a few nods to Leigh Bardugo in this chapter XD
> 
> Also pay attention to the details....some things and people aren't what they seem....

Although it was still early in the morning, the mercantile district was in chaos. Other wardens kept the crowd at bay, while more senior officials perused the rubble. Vi nodded to a junior warden holding the line and stepped past, Packe following in her wake. The building that Vi assumed Jinx had crashed into (seeing the level of destruction wrought upon it) was missing a large section of a wall, and a burnt smell hung in the air. This, along with the sooty residue and blackened interior, made it evident that the rockets had set off a fire, which was contained quickly. Vi confirmed this and also learned that only four people had been inside the building and three were receiving medical care at the moment, while one was on his way to the morgue. She canvassed the area (with Packe trailing along like an annoying insect Vi was getting an urge to swat) and interviewed several people who had apparently seen her crash into the building.

Jemimah O’Riley, a young street cleaner with a hextech contraption that banged and clattered, Per Haskell, an old inventor with a jewelers loupe who did freelance hextech work for several clans, Pekka Babaraka, an older gentleman who was carrying several Ionian roses, and Jetta Kourne, a junior warden stationed at the street corner who had seen Jinx fly past on her “Super-Mega-Death-Rocket-Of-Doom-And-Rainbows” (which she had shouted at the distraught young woman, along with several colorful Zaunite insults for wardens) before vaulting off when it hit the building and launching several colorful explosive devices down the street and into the same building. Vi shook her head at the end of the interviews and went off to go and find any clues she could get...

After searching the area for several grueling hours and discovering nothing more than some colorful graffiti Jinx had left behind -colorful in terms of actual color and linguistics- Vi returned to the warden’s office and plunked her head on her desk in defeat. Packe vanished to get one of the pastries that Vi had so enjoyed earlier. Caitlyn was busy doing paperwork, as usual, but looked up to face the evidently exhausted and defeated enforcer. “Vi, don’t beat yourself up. No one can catch this maniac. Don’t run yourself ragged trying to do this alone.” Red rimmed and bloodshot eyes met Caitlyn’s coffee brown ones. “But I need to catch her. She’s a menace to this city and is t-t-taunting me.” Vi broke into a huge yawn. Caitlyn looked at her with pity. “You should go home and get some sleep. Take the rest of the day off.” The pink haired Zaunite’s head shot up. “Really? I don’t know….” “You’re about to fall asleep at your desk. That wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order.” “I-I mean, of course! I’ll see you t-t-tomorrow.” She broke into another huge yawn and trailed out the door. “This does mean you’ll need to finish the day with Packe tomorrow!” Caitlyn called after her. “Mmmnghhh….” was her only response as she tramped out the office and back home to take a nap.

A very long nap.

Two

You grin

Again

Who knew it was going to be that easy?

It’s time to up the stakes

The performance must go on

It merely must get bigger

All according to plan

All according to the numbers

All according to the number

According to the number

To the number

The number

Number

You grin


	4. The second one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar face shows up dead...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyo! It's been a while since I uploaded-Its been a rocky road these past few weeks, but I hope you enjoy! Big shout out to Sarai for reading-Thank you so much! Go check out their fics :)

Vi slammed through the wall and grabbed the blue haired scum by her throat. She giggled and ...transformed into a blimp? Vi looked around and saw she was surrounded by cinnamon rolls making an irritating tapping noise. The noise grew louder until everything vanished and Vi opened her eyes. It was a dream. She yawned and rolled her neck, cracking her vertebrae and groaning as she stood up off of her couch. The tapping noise started again and she suddenly realized that someone must be at her front door. Stepping around piles of paperwork with bottles and dirty plates stacked haphazardly on top, Vi got to the door in a fairly quick manner… considering she had just woken up. Opening the door, she was startled to see Packe standing outside. Packe was trying to look cross, but was clearly too smug to keep the frown on her face. “There’s been another murder. Same modus operandi as last time.” Vi groaned. “Really? Fabulous. I'm going to make some coffee.” Packe pursed her lips but realized that it would be useless to argue and ducked inside before the door slammed shut. She wrinkled her nose at the evident mess in the cramped apartment. Her partner was bustling around in the miniscule kitchen making espresso. “Why do you live here? With what you’re getting paid you could live in the top levels of Piltover, not the entresol.” Vi threw back her coffee and smacked her lips. “It reminds me of where I came from. You should always remember your roots. Right, let’s head out.” She snagged her hextech gauntlets from where they were sitting on the floor in the middle of the apartment. With a sense of relief, Packe followed her out into the bright sunlight and to the next crime scene.

“He looks familiar.” were Vi’s first words upon seeing the victim. They had journeyed back to the mercantile district and were in an apartment. The lock on the door had been blown open by a pistol shot, which was what had first alerted the neighbor to something being wrong. She had called the wardens and cowered in her apartment until they had come to pick her up. Inside the apartment, there was a dead body with a larger carved picture of a rose on his face. This time, it covered the entire face, originating from a bullet hole like the last one. A shattered jewelers loupe rested on the floor by him, and there was blood on the walls. Two roses were left on top of the chest. “He should, Vi. We talked to him yesterday. Per Haskell- he did freelance hextech work for the clans, including Clan Ferros’ carivale lens, the oracle ball for Clan Tourne, and most recently, a hextech carriage for Clan Medara.” Packe was reading from a file she held. “There’s definitely a connection between the two victims-they both had connections to Clan Medara. Its the obvious pattern.” Vi privately agreed, but she still had qualms about the whole thing. Why hadn’t the killer gone after an easier target? There were plenty of other running messengers that could have been picked off easily. Also, the apartment was completely untouched-most petty thugs who broke into an apartment would either trash it or steal everything. She shook her head and let the sheet cover Haskell’s face again “Lets go home, Packe. We’ll make our report to the sheriff.”

You snigger

The old man presented more of a challenge

But he wasn’t even close to your curtain call

No

You watch them leave

You could shoot them now

But that would ruin the performance

No

Much better to leave them

They’ll be your audience

Even if they don’t know when

Or what

They’re watching

You are perfect

No

Perfection


	5. Carriage Accident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaack!
> 
> We're approaching the end of the murder spree...stay tuned for more chapter updates soon!

You watch the carriage cross the bustling square

A testament to the opulence and riches of the Medaras

The weapons delivered to the invaders

Murderers

Sitting on their piles of gold

The device on the underbelly ticks

You check your watch

Three hours

Fifty-nine minutes

Fifty-six seconds

Four

Three

Two

One

Beauty

———

Caitlyn was just finishing a pneuma tube letter to send to Clan Medara when a muffled boom sounded, rocking the office and knocking over her rifle leaning against the wall. She sprang out of her chair to grab it and poked her head out the door. “Vi, I’m going to deliver a warning to Clan Medara- I’m taking some wardens to investigate the large boom we heard just a few seconds ago.” Vi nodded distractedly, reading a message from an old friend of hers. “Morris! Jacobson! Come with me.” She walked out the door as the other two stumbled around their desks and followed her. “You two go investigate the noise- I’ll deliver this to the Medara mansion and come find you afterwards.” They nodded assent and began asking people where they thought the noise had come from while Caitlyn headed off in the other direction.

Ten minutes later, Caitlyn was waiting in the grand foyer of the Medara household, watching the acting head, Sophie Medara, converse with an attache at the top of the stairs. Eventually, they finished up and the attache scurried away, while Sophie descended the stairs magnanimously. “Sheriff Caitlyn, to what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked with a warm smile. “I’m here to deliver the case details of the murder spree to you, and to ask you to cancel the garden party you have planned for tomorrow. We do not have the numbers you requested to safely protect everyone attending, which include many other clan heads. It’s simply too dangerous” Sophie’s smile grew a little forced. “While I appreciate the concern, I simply cannot cancel tomorrow’s gathering. Several insidious rumors have manifested against the state of our coffers, and our hextech research has recently been copied by undercity dwellers. People think we’re losing our touch- and that someone in our household is a traitor.” She wrinkled her nose, as if the mere thought of Zaun was enough to send a stench through the house. “If we back down, we look weak and lose our position in the Piltovean society.” Struggling to swallow her annoyance Caitlyn responded “There will be no worry of losing your place in society if all of Clan Medara is dead by tomorrow. Could you not postpone the party?” “That may be so, but if we cancel tomorrow we are doomed. We must make a statement and unveil our newest hextech invention. Our gold is running dry- we will not be able to sustain ourselves and keep up appearances if we push this back any further.” The two of them went back and forth for a while until Sophie finally snapped. “I will not be the one to run this house into the ground. We must regain the good graces of the elite and the common man alike- tomorrow. Good day, sheriff.” With that, she turned her back on Caitlyn and ascended the staircase with a sense of finality, taking the pneuma tube with her. The sheriff ground her teeth and glared at the receding back of Sophie Medara before walking out the door and stalking off to find the other wardens.

When she arrived on the scene, utter chaos greeted her. Crowds of people were pushing against the warden line- Morris and Jacobson must have called for backup- and utter destruction occupied most of the square. What was once a glittering carriage now smoldered and popped from an explosion, while splatters of blood marred the ground in a starburst pattern. The stunned face of the occupant- long since gone cold- stared back at her, the illusion of a rose grafted onto her face and three singed real flowers surrounding her in the wreckage of the interior. Vi and Packe stood nearby, recording the last witness statement. When they were done, Vi spotted Caitlyn inspecting the face of the carriage rider and walked over, Packe close behind. “Johanna Yantun, who was-” “Principal intelligencer for Clan Medara, I know. We just spoke yesterday.” Caitlyn interrupted Vi. “I’m not surprised that this is another Medara hit- what I am interested in, however, are these roses. There were a total of three others at the other crime scenes, yes?” Vi and Packe nodded assent. “These are Ionian thornblooms, a rarity in Piltover and very expensive. Check in with every single florist in town- they’ve got to remember who bought them. Must have paid a pretty penny.” Vi’s mouth tightened in disapproval of interviewing everyyyyy single florist in the entire city, but she just turned to go, taking Packe with her. Caitlyn watched them bicker as they walked away and smiled. She made a good decision with pairing the two together.

———

Imitation

The “old man” looks back at you from a mirror

Total control over your facial muscles 

You never wear the same look twice

They’re getting close

The roses were the perfect breadcrumb

Now

You just have to wait

And the flower will bloom

In blood

**Author's Note:**

> Eyyo! You've stumbled across my story! This is my first attempt at writing a story like this... Let me know what you think! Hopefully you enjoyed it :)


End file.
